Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Calibrachoa sp. cultivar USCALI11
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa plant, botanically known as Calibrachoa sp., and hereinfter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98USCALI11xe2x80x99.
The new Calibrachoa is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hikone, Shiga, Japan. The objective of the program is to create new heat-tolerant and disease-resistant Calibrachoa cultivars with semi-upright plant habit and attractive flower colors.
The new Calibrachoa originated from a cross made by the Inventor On May 10, 1998 of a proprietary seedling selection of Calibrachoa identified as code number CJ19-3, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary seedling selection of Calibrachoa identified as code number CJ18-8, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Calibrachoa was selected by the Inventor on Jun. 15, 1999 in a controlled environment in Gensingen, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Gensingen, Germany since Jun. 25, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Calibrachoa are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar USCALI11 have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, daylength, water status and fertility level without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98USCALI11xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98USCALI11xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa:
1. Semi-upright plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. Large light red purple-colored flowers.
5. Good weather tolerance; tolerant to rain and low and high temperatures.
6. Resistant to Thielaviopsis.
Plants of the new Calibrachoa differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in plant habit as plants of the female selection are more upright than plants of the new Calibrachoa and plants of the male parent are more trailing than plants of the new Calibrachoa.
Plants of the new Calibrachoa can be compared to plants of the cultivar Colorburst Rose, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,147. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Calibrachoa had a more upright plant habit and differed in flower coloration compared to plants of the cultivar Colorburst Rose.